Garwood El, Garwood TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Garwood El

Garwood Elementary is a small rural school serving pre-K through fifth grade in an agricultural community in southern Colorado County. The school sits on Highway 71 in the unincorporated hamlet of Garwood, which has historically depended on rice farming and now also on sand and gravel extraction. The town itself is declining: its population has fallen over recent decades, and the broader rice economy on which it was built has contracted due to drought pressure. No major new housing development is occurring in the area.

The school's enrollment is small, with about a hundred students across its grade bands. A substantial majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding agricultural region. The student body is roughly evenly split between Hispanic and white students, with a small share of Black students and few other racial groups represented. Data on the school's English learner population and special education enrollment were not available, so a parent may want to look into those figures with the school directly.

Academic performance shows a mixed picture. In English language arts, results are stronger in the upper grades: fifth graders performed above the midpoint, while third and fourth graders' performance hovered near or slightly below the state proficiency level. In math, third grade performance was notably weaker, while fourth and fifth grades showed more solid results, with fifth grade reaching above the state threshold. Fifth-grade science proficiency fell below the midpoint. Overall, the school's proficiency index across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint when compared to other districts in Colorado County, a positioning that reflects moderate performance rather than exceptional strength.

The school belongs to Rice Consolidated Independent School District. In the Texas Education Agency's most recent accountability ratings, Rice CISD as a whole received a C grade. However, the district's junior high school received an F rating and was placed on the state's Public Education Grant list, which allows families to transfer to another district if they wish. This designation signals ongoing performance concerns at the secondary level. The district does operate a Community Eligibility Provision program that provides free breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge, eliminating meal applications for families. The district also operates under a District of Innovation plan through 2028, which grants certain exemptions from standard state requirements.

Garwood Elementary fits a family seeking a small, rural, locally-rooted school setting in an agricultural community. The school is accessible but sits outside the historic downtown core, on the highway. Beyond K-5, students will attend Rice Consolidated Junior High in Garwood before traveling to Rice High School near Altair. A parent considering this school may want to understand more about the district's longer-term trajectory and strategy, particularly given the F rating at the junior high level and the underlying economic pressures on the region's traditional agricultural base.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 313%

School 13% · district not reported

▼ 27 pts below state median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 47% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 41% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · district not reported

even with state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 564%

School 64% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median

Science

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 21% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

This schoolRICE CISD, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income83%50 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income71%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income11%Higher-income17%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income86%48 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap